How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 82

As we arrived at the northern border of Bahano, the guards stopped our carriage.

"Hello."

I greeted them with a smile. They were surprised and straightened their posture, then bowed their heads to me.

"Oh, Leader! How are you?"

The influence of the Leader of Kyros Church was stronger than I thought in Bahano.

"Where are you going?"

"I have something to see."

"I see. Well, okay. Please go ahead."

Without any further explanation, the guards let our carriage pass easily.

"As expected of the Leader!"

Katu looked at me with shining eyes. It wasn't such a big deal, though.

We didn't go far before our carriage stopped. Our destination was the 'Black Moon Lake'. It was a dangerous area, but it wasn't far from the northern border of Bahano, so it didn't take much time to get there.

"Thank you."

I handed some money to the coachman and looked around.

'Now we have no other means of transportation, so I guess I have to ask Troy.'

I felt sorry and hesitated to say anything. Then Troy transformed into a black panther on his own.

"Master, I'm fine, so get on."

Troy knew that the distance to Black Moon Lake was quite long and he was considerate of us.

"Thank you always, Troy."

"No. I will always assist the Master, so there's no need to apologize or thank me."

He was so kind.

---He's truly my child.

I grabbed Troy's soft fur and climbed onto his broad back. Zain followed me naturally. He used to be scared of Troy, but he seemed to have adapted by now.

"Wow! Troy is a Mont tribe!"

And Katu looked at Troy with bright eyes. He examined Troy from all angles and then smiled brightly and followed us onto Troy's back.

"Wow, thank you so much, Troy!"

"It's nothing. Hold on tight. We're leaving now."

After Katu settled in, Troy started running.

The black panther's sprint cut through the barren land without hesitation. I couldn't even open my eyes properly and held onto Troy's fur tightly.

"Woah! This is so fun!"

Katu's innocent voice of joy reached my ears. Zain, on the other hand, seemed to be speechless.

Thanks to Troy's sprint, we were able to reach the vicinity of Black Moon Lake in no time.

Troy stopped and we got off him. Then Troy returned to his human form.

"That's Black Moon Lake over there."

"Yeah, I can see that."

I could tell without Zain's explanation.

Black Moon Lake was a bit far away, but it was so wide that I couldn't see the whole thing at once.

It looked like a sea, and that was our destination.

---The terrain around here is strange.

'Indeed. It doesn't look like a lake shore...'

As Kyros said, the terrain around Black Moon Lake was bizarre. There were lush grasses growing everywhere, but there were also pillars of stone rising up here and there.

They varied in size and shape, and they looked like they were artificially made at a glance.

I knew it wasn't ordinary from seeing it on the game screen, but it was even stranger in reality.

"Grrr."

As I looked around for a moment, a nasty cry came from behind a stone pillar as tall as a building.

'I knew it wasn't quiet.'

Black Moon Lake was a place where you had to beat up a lot of monsters to get through for a quest.

I had hoped for the best, but of course I couldn't pass by quietly.

"Be careful, everyone."

"This is...!"

Katu had found something. It was an object stuck in the gap of a stone pillar. It was a necklace made of various animal and monster teeth.

"It's Lufu's tooth necklace!"

Katu picked it up and looked at me.

"He must have left it here as a sign for me to find him! He must be around here!"

"Okay, brother. Calm down. If you raise your voice, more monsters will come."

I calmed down the excited Katu. Katu nodded and put the necklace in his chest.

We quietly continued our search. We dealt with the occasional monsters and finally reached Black Moon Lake.

The Black Moon Lake looked like an endless sea up close. But the water of the lake was so dark that it didn't feel like it was of this world.

I felt a creepy feeling that if I fell into the lake, I would never come back.

---My child, be careful. There's something in there.

'Yes. I'll be careful.'

Kyros had a good sense. He realized that there was something sinister under the lake even though it was his first time here. But... yeah, I didn't want to face it either.

As I looked at the lake water, Katu's scream rang out.

"...Lufu!"

In the center of Black Moon Lake, there was a large rock sticking out. On top of it, there was a nest-like structure made of various grasses and branches, and there was a dwarf who looked just like Katu.

"How can this be, Lufu!"

Katu cried and threw himself towards the Black Moon Lake.

"Calm down, brother."

If I hadn't grabbed his arm, Katu would have already fallen into the lake.

"Lufu is right there!"

"Brother. Calm down. First of all, there might be monsters in this lake, so we have to be careful."

"But Lufu is right in front of me... What if he's badly hurt, or already dead?"

Katu sobbed and pleaded. Then, Troy grabbed Katu's shoulder.

"Don't worry. Fortunately, your brother is alive. He doesn't seem to have any serious injuries."

"Don't get too excited, dwarf brother. This guy is a Mont tribe. He has exceptional vision and smell, so he must be telling the truth."

Zain also calmed Katu down, and then Katu finally settled down.

"...I see. That's a relief. And I'm sorry, Leader."

"No, brother."

Well, the problem now was how to save Lufu.

As I pondered over the distant Lufu, Zain spoke first.

"People avoid Black Moon Lake not only because of the number of monsters around, but..."

Zain looked at the lake and continued.

"Because of the 'Black Moon Bear' that lives in the lake. That nest in the middle also belongs to the Black Moon Bear."

"Zain, how do you know that so well? You're smart."

"Well, this kind of information is common sense. The biggest reason I didn't want to come here in the first place was because of that thing."

Black Moon Lake was quite famous, so many people knew about it. Troy didn't seem to know, though. That was possible.

"Yes. There's a fearsome bear in this lake."

Katu also nodded and said.

"Yes. I also read about the bear in a book. And we have to kill the Black Moon Bear to save Lufu, brother."

Lufu was in the middle of the lake. We couldn't cross without killing the monster that lived in the lake.

Bubbling.

Then, bubbles started to rise from the lake near where we were standing.

"Everyone, back off!"

Everyone backed away at my shout. I clenched my mace and watched the lake.

Splash-

At that moment, the dark lake water parted and the 'Black Moon Bear' finally showed itself.

Happy Reading!

It will help the website and also help people find this novel!